Play Ball!
by Dalukes
Summary: The crew is bored. So what is there to do? How about a little ball game? (No ships yet, consider it a normal episode of the show) Rating changed to T, I'm not sure where I'll take this "episode". Thinking about updating every day or so.
1. It Begins

"Ugghhh..."

"What is it, Mabel?"

"I'm just so boooooored..."

Dipper squinted at her, feeling as if something wasn't right. How could this rambunctious young teenage girl not be the Mabel his twin was?

"Go play with Waddles or something." He said. Dipper himself was lounging on the recliner in the Mystery Shack's living room, a remote in his hand, watching Tiger Fist on the television. He too was bored, but he didn't let that show. Not around Wendy.

Mabel looked at him with disgust. "How can you just sit back lazily and watch TV when I'm bored?"

Dipper didn't move.

"Aw, c'mon, Dippinsauce, there's gotta be something..."

"Fine! Fine." Dipper yelled as he turned off the TV. "Let's go see if Soos has anything we can do."

The Gravity Falls manchild was currently switching out a broken lightbulb in the opening hallway with a new one. When he heard the twins arrive, he stepped down from his ladder.

"Hey dudes," he greeted them. "how's it goin'?"

"We're bored," Mabel answered. The quieter, more unhappy Dipper stood beside her, mumbling "She's bored,".

"Hmmm." Soos wondered aloud, rubbing his chin, "I don't know what we could do. Maybe a game or something."

"Oh! A game! Let's do that!" Mabel screamed, her lethargic mumbles from earlier long gone.

"But what game?" Soos wondered.

Suddenly, a random baseball flew through the nearby window. Dipper screamed and fell down, earning a snicker from Mabel. After proceeding to stare at the ball for a few seconds, Soos had a lightbulb moment.

"We could play baseball!"

"I don't know," Dipper said, standing up, "who would we get to play?"

Just then, a redheaded young woman in a plaid green shirt came walking down the stairs.

"Wendy! Hey Wendy!" Dipper yelled, immediately blushing afterwards for his foolish actions. "We need you for a baseball team."

Wendy looked down at the 13 year old and grinned. "Sure, short stuff. I've played ball my whole life."

Dipper smiled. "Great! That's four! All we need is... five more people."

This discouraged the group for a moment. "Hey," Wendy started, "I'll see if I can get Robbie to join. You kiddos" facing towards Dipper and Mabel "can see if you can get Stan in. Mabel, get your two friends."

Dipper cringed at Robbie's name.

Mabel, however, shouted with glee at the idea of having Candy and Glenda on the team. "We could have Waddes be our mascot!" She yelled. Dipper, having heard pretty much enough, promptly face palmed

After a while of just standing there awkwardly, Soos asked, "I'm gonna have to clean up this glass, aren't I dudes?"

**So how was that for a first time fanfiction? I'm writing this on my ipod, so its bad as f$& ... Did you notice that they only have IDEAS for only eight people so far, while they need nine? What will happen? It all depends... **


	2. Woodrow Pytch

20 minutes later

Dipper lay on his bed in the attic of the Shack, barefoot and hat off, staring up at the ceiling. Mabel had gone off to talk to her friends to see if thy could come, which he was sure they would. He was sure Robbie'd do anything to be with Wendy more (that gothic jerk). What he was stuck on was Stan.

Of course, his penny-pincher grunkle wouldn't do anything unless it involved money. Dipper needed to find a way to intertwine money into this.

He sat up, stretched, and proceeded to walk downstairs. Once he landed on the bottom floor, he heard Stan talking with Soos.

"C'mon, dude, it'll be great." The tubby manchild was almost begging on his knees at this point.

"Nah." Stan shoved him off. Dipper decided this was the perfect time to hide behind the recliner and listen in.

The silence was the elephant in the room. Finally, Soos spoke up.

"I know how much you want to spend time with your kids, dude."

Dipper could almost feel Stan breaking under pressure.

"Okay, fine. But you'll have to pay me later."

Dipper quietly moved to the side of the room and walked in, making it look like he hadn't been in the room.

"Hey, Grunkle Stan." He greeted.

"Hey, uh, kid..." Stan started. Dipper could see that Stan was having a hard time saying it. "How about I, uh, join your little baseball team."

Dipper feigned being excited. "Oh! Cool!" He exclaimed falsely. "That's great."

"Uh, dude," Soos started. "I think we have a problem. We don't have any dudes to play with."

Duh! How could he ever pass that over! They don't have a single soul who would oppose them!

Just then, Mabel ran into the room with Candy and Glenda in tow. "Hey! Hey! Heyheyheyheyheyheyhey!"

"Shut up, kid! What is it?" Stan asked, obviously annoyed by the incessant teen.

"Pacifica and her softball team overheard me talking to these guys!" Mabel shouted, gesturing to the two girls behind her. They waved.

"She's bringing her whole team over tomorrow to play us! She said something about destroying us and some kind of plot point, whatever that means." Mabel mused.

"Huh. That's miraculously convenient." Soos pointed out, much to Stan's anger for some reason.

"Okay. Great. We'll practice tomorrow." Dipper stated, going back upstairs to resume his staring at the ceiling.

Back in the upstairs hallway, Dipper sits down outside the doorway to the attic.

He sighs. "I just wish I was good at baseball." He walks into his room and looks out the window, where the kids, including Wendy and Robbie, as well as Nate, Lee, and Thompson (who was really just sitting on the ground next to Tambry, watching her text anyone and everyone) were playing catch with the rest of the kids and Grunkle Stan.

His Grunkle was busying himself teaching Mabel how to swing a bat. This surprised Dipper. Since when did Grunkle Stan actually teach the kids how to do anything, much less act like a parent?

He shrugged to himself and slid down the wall. Sighing, he picked up his glove and headed out for the group.

Once outside, Nate sees Dipper and yells over at him, "Hey! It's Doctor Fun Times!"

Thompson and Lee both look up and rush towards the young guy giving him shoulder punches and high fives. During this Dipper looks over to Wendy, and sees her talking to Robbie.

"Hey Dipper!" Mabel yells over from where she's practicing hitting. "Pitch to me!"

The young teen angrily walks over to the mound, infuriated by the presence of Robbie.

He sets up, stares Mabel down, winds up and pitches-

Far left.

He tries it again, this time going through the stretch. He pitches it-

It hits the plate.

"Uh, Dipper, maybe you should go practice somewhere else," Dipper turned around and looked a Wendy. Hurt by her words, he takes off his glove and sprints towards the back of the Shack, making sure she can't see his tears.

Everyone looks on in confusion.

When Dipper reaches the back of the Shack, he lies down and stares up at the partly cloudy sky.

He feels a rush of cool air, and whisper-like sounds.

He looks up. A beige-colored, translucent older man in a baseball uniform was staring at him.

"Hello, there, kid," he starts, floating towards Dipper, who was backing up against the wall. "Saw yer pitchin' earlier. Methinks you need some help."

His pale face was only inches from Dipper's. his cold breath made Dipper shiver.

"Names Woodrow. Woodrow Pytch."


	3. Training, or something

Dipper tried to scream, but nothing would come out of his mouth. The man who looked as if he came right out of a 50's film reel, laughed at him.

"Perky li'l fella, ain't ya?" He laughed. Dippers eyes stayed saucers.

"Now, listen kid. I'm willing to help ya. That pitch of yours- it ain't too good."

Dipper found his voice and almost yelled, "What are you?"

Woodrow looked perplexed. "Whaddya mean? I already told you mah name- oh, you mean WHAT I am, huh? Well, I guess I'll start from the top.

"I was the star pitcher for the Gravity Falls Beavers, or so I thought. It was a major league team up until 1956, when our manager just quit. We couldn't pay for our bills, and so the team disbanded.

"After that, our players mysteriously began to disappear, or that's what the papers said at least. I was the first to go. I think my teammates are still out there. Ol' Cook, Hirsch, and Corduroy."

Dipper remembered those names. Lucas Cook's great grandfather went missing, Lucas never knew him. He didn't know Hirsch, (XD) but Corduroy might've been where Wendy learned her baseball skills from, her great grandfather's spirit. Or something.

"So, uh, when do we begi-" Dipper started before being hit in the chest with his glove.

"Now." Woodrow stated, winding up for a fastball.

Dipper caught it, and slid back four feet. With a stone face, he calmly takes off his glove, lays it on the ground, and screams in pain.

Woodrow laughs. "Still got it," he states as he blows dust out of his mitt.

Dipper stared Woodrow down. "Mark my words, I will pitch better than you by the game."

Woodrow laughed heartily. "Okay, then, short stuff, you got it. Pitch it to me."

Dipper started off in the stretch. Staring the ghost down, he stepped up, forward and threw. Far left again.

Woodrow floated forward. "Kay, kid, this is what you're doing. You need to put your glove hand up first, and then throw. Try to make it one fluid motion. It'll help, see, watch."

Dipper watched as the ghost threw a fastball so hard it bounced off of a tree and broke a window in the Mystery Shack. Stan, who was apparently inside now, yelled "WHAT?"

Dipper laughed worriedly. He turned around to see the fastball phantom holding the ball toward him. Dipper did a double take.

"Don't act surprised, kid, just pitch."

After a few pitches, Dipper was finally able to get it right in the center of Woodrow's mitt. He jumped up and shouted up in the sky about his success.

-—meanwhile—-

Wendy thought she heard a yell from behind the Shack, but decided to ignore it.

Mabel ran out of the shack, holding 11 sweaters in her hands. "They're for all of you!" She yelled.

Robbie wasn't do thrilled. "Uhh, do I have to wear this?" He asked Wendy, who glared at him.

Grunkle Stan took his and stared at it, eventually tucking it in his pocket "so he wouldn't lose it".

Glenda and Candy loved theirs. Nate and Lee didn't even take theirs, they just left it on the ground. Tambry didn't notice hers. Thompson's barely fit.

Mabel's fit perfectly, of course. Now all she needed was-

"Dipper!"

He heard his name being called. He looked toward where the friendly phantom used to be, but found him gone.

Mabel rushed over and immediately thrust a green sweater over his head.

"What is it like?" She yelled. He looked around, knowing better than to ask her what the heck it was that was on him. He'd been subject to this for a long time.

It it almost perfectly, a green sleeveless sweater with he number 8 sewn on the back. Also on the back was sewn "Dipper" in white.

"Gee, uh, thanks, Mabel." Dipper didn't realize what was going on. As his sister left, he picked up the baseball.

Written in sharpie on the ball was an autograph. Hard to read, but he could infer what it said.

Woodrow Wilson Pytch

1932-1956

**I'M FREE FROM MY SCHOOL'S PRISON! SUMMER IS HERE, BABY! Gosh, writing like this is hard. **


	4. Dreams

**Before the chapter starts, I'd like to get some things out of the way. Number one, I've never seen Field of Dreams, but after skimming the Wikipedia page, I can see some connections. If you feel like I am repeating FoD, just consider the "episode" a parody, like "The Inconveniencing" was to ghost films. I'm trying to make this story a parody to classic baseball films, though so far it's all just me making it up as I go. Who knows? This might end up completely original**.

**Now that that's out of the way, lets begin, shall we!**

Falling on his bed, he sighed audibly. Dipper had a long day. His shoulder ached. He had never done that type of practice or pitching before. And to think her learned it from a paranormal pitcher...

He shrugged it off. Anything could happen in Gravity Falls. If anyone would know that, it was him.

He stared up at the ceiling for what seemed like an eternity. He couldn't really think about anything else other than Woodrow. The guy taught like no teacher he'd ever been taught by. He must have so mugs experience.

Eventually, he fell asleep.

He woke up on the pitchers mound, complete in a full baseball uniform. He looked and saw himself facing the plate, and a burly-looking mountain of a man at the plate.

It took him a few seconds to realize he had to pitch, but when he did, he froze. The umpire yelled at him to get on with it, so he tenderly picked the ball up off of the ground.

The crowd was huge. So was the stadium they were in. It looked to Dipper like he was at a major league stadium with thousands of fans. He heard the crowd chanting, over and over: "Dipper! Dipper!"

The scoreboard told him that it was the ninth inning. There were two outs, a runner on third and a runner on first.

He turned to the batter. He had to do this.

He wound up, put his glove forward, and pitched.

Right down the middle. He could have sworn the umpire screamed 'strike 1'.

Dipper gained a lot of confidence. He smirked at the big man at the plate. Spitting on the mound, he wound up again, this time hurling a curveball.

It was unreal almost; the ball went far left, then dipped in sharply.

Okay, the umpire seriously needed to stop screaming. It was unsettling just hearing 'strike 2' that loud.

It got to the point where all that Dipper could hear was the immense crowd.

He looked toward the dugout. He didn't know anyone there. He looked around. He noticed he didn't know any of them either.

The chants of "Dipper" had changed. They weren't yelling his name anymore.

Instead he heard more chilling words.

"Woodrow! Woodrow!"

Dipper lost his senses. He wobbled a bit, dropping the ball. His vision blurred. There was an intense ringing in his ears that he just couldn't get out. He yelled, and heard nothing.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar figure.

"Woodrow!" He yelled toward the specter.

Woodrow shook his head and looked downward.

"There's a price for fame, Dipper." He said softly. It was all Dipper could hear.

"What?" Dipper yelled. "What do you mean? I don't want fame! I - I... I wanna be good!"

Woodrow smirked, as if he knew something Dipper didn't know. "Why do you want to be good?"

Dipper searched his head. It wasn't hard to find an answer.

"Because... Because I want to impress Wendy."

"Ah," Woodrow started. He rubbed his chin. "You see, I was attracted to you because I saw potential in you as a ballplayer. Because I could build off of where I ended. Because Dipper..."

Dipper retched internally. How did he know his name?

"...I was a failure to myself. I see that you think of yourself as a failure. I don't want that."

Dipper was confused. "Wh-why would you care? I mean, it's not like we're related!"

Woodrow looked down. "You're right. We're not. By there is more of a connection than you think."

"What?" Dipper yelled. "What? Were our parents friends or something?"

"No!" Woodrow yelled. Dipper could've sworn he saw a tear come out of his eye.

"It's-" Woodrow looked like he had some trouble finding words. "It's that... You are my only chance to find out how I died. If you quit from this, or don't trust me, I'll have to find someone else."

"So why do I need to train?" Dipper asked, still confused.

"Because that game-" Woodrow gestured behind him to reveal Pacifica in a red uniform with a trophy in her hands. "Will either save or destroy Gravity Falls."

Dipper stepped back in disbelief. "How?" He choked.

"Because if she wins," Woodrow gestured to Pacifica. "her father will attempt to buy your little Mystery Shack. If he does, the secrets of this town will be revealed. Now, I know that's what you want to do, but trust me, Dipper Matthew Pines,"

Dipper stopped breathing. This was important.

"it will simply destroy us."

Everything turned white and faded.

Dipper woke up sitting upright, staring at his feet, and

breathing heavily.

"I have to win. For the Shack. For Gravity Falls.

"For the world."

**OMGFILLER**!


	5. Mabel's Search for a Mascot

**Heyo! Imma back! So I realized that there is a severe lack of Mabel in this story. Like literally. Dipper's in here a lot, maybe too much, but I haven't used up the three others. So today's chapter is all about Mabel and the team name/mascot. It's real short, but still. Enjoy**!

"Grunkle Stan!" Mabel yelled at the older man, who groaned and looked over in her direction.

"What is it, kid?" He asked, annoyed.

"What would be a good name for the team? The Gravity Falls Mysteries? The Mystery Shack Gobblewonkers? The Ducks? The Woodpeckers? Oh, the Chainsaw Beavers!"

A "Yah, Dude!" Could be heard on the other side of the Shack.

Stan sighed. How did he let himself be dragged into this?

"Look, kid. How about you go outside and see if you can find something." In all reality he wanted her to be quiet for three minutes. Even he knew that was next to impossible.

Mabel grabbed Waddles and sprinted outside, looking for every possible animal to use as a mascot for the team.

She took off in a path on the right side of the Shack. She didn't look back during it, unknowing that Waddles had long since fell out of her arms and was sprinting behind her.

She tripped and rolled down a fairly familiar hole, landing face-first on the dirt.

"Ow," she grumbled to herself as she stood up, rubbing her head. Looking around, she saw nothing but forest all around her. Waddles was on his back, squealing and trying to get up. Mabel giggled and helped the poor pig up.

"Whoa, where am I?" She asked no one in particular, not expecting an answer either.

She peeked behind a bush.

There sat Shmabuloch, bathing in squirrels.

Mabel pulled back the bushes. "Sweet Sally. That's the second time I've seen a gnome bathing in squirrels."

Waddles oinked.

"Huh. I guess we'll have to keep looking, Waddles."

They continued their search, Mabel humming a tune too similar to that of a 1980's adventure movie.

She saw multiple animals. Most of them were birds, like woodpeckers and bluejays. She did see some deer and the goat, though.

She heard a low, rattling sound, similar to that of a rattlesnake. Expecting the Maraca Owl, she looked around the tree to find nothing. She shrugged and left, not realizing the black figure staring at her. It left into the woods, unknown.

"La lala la la lala," she sang as she skipped through the woods, Waddles oinking behind her. She turned the corner and came across a pond.

In it were countless fish, a few turtles and frogs, and lots of medium sized black objects, moving in the water.

She stepped in. One's head popped up, revealing a kind looking penguin.

"Aww," Mabel cooed at the bird.

Suddenly, it grew fangs and lashed out at her. She screamed and ran out, away from the man-eating, killer penguins of Gravity Falls.

She ran for a while before finally reappearing outside of the bottomless pit. She stopped. Looking down, she didn't realize the twelve penguins that fell off into the pit, never to be seen again.

"I have an idea for a name, Grunkle Stan!" She yelled as she opened the door.

Stan groaned again. Couldn't she see he was busy watching TV?

"What is it, kid?" He asked her.

"The Gravity Falls Killer Penguins!"

"No." Stan shot it down immediately. "How about the Woodpeckers?"

"Eh. It'll work." She mumbled, angry at her loss of five minutes in the woods.

She left, finally earning some silence for Stan.

It was ruined immediately by Soos, crashing through the wall with his souped up Golf Cart.

"Oh, sorry dude. I'll fix it." He apologized.

Stan didn't respond.

**Next chappies' all Soos.**


	6. Backyard Meetup

**And now... we have Wendy**.** WARNING! WE HAVE SLIGHTLY FOUL LANGUAGE IN THIS CHAPTER**!

"Aack!"

Thompson's scream could be heard halfway across the lot, as Nate and Lee had busied themselves dumping a fresh bag of baseballs down his buttcrack.

"Stop! Stop, it hurts!" He screamed.

The redhead standing next to Robbie laughed in spite of the kid's misfortune.

"So, uh, can I... take you out, sometime?" The emo teen next to her asked.

Wendy shook her head. "No, Robbie. I'm still pretty pissed about what happened last month. I'm not dating anyone right now, and I won't be for a while."

Robbie dejectedly looked downward, and spoke softly, out of his character. "Not Lee?"

Wendy looked at him, a hard look on her face. "Uh, no."

Robbie looked at her. "Not Nate?"

Wendy shook her head.

"Dear God, please not Thompson."

Wendy was a little confused. "I already told you I wasn't going to date anyone."

Robbie smirked. "I think we both know you're lying to yourself."

Wendy giggled. "I guess I am."

Robbie's smirk fell as he looked off. A scary thought entered his mind.

He carefully looked at her, contemplating whether or not to say the next name.

"Tambry?"

Wendy's eyes almost popped out of her sockets as she jerked her head over to him. "Hell no!" She yelled.

An awkward silence embraced her as the rambunctious group of teens messing around we're now staring at her, save Thompson, who was painfully trying to remove baseballs from his butt.

She awkwardly grinned and shrugged.

"Wendy! Wendy! Wen-oof!" She turned to see Dipper, clad in his shorts and red shirt, tripping over a log, getting up and rushing over to her.

She giggled inwardly. "What is it, dork?" She asked him playfully. Her eyes moved over to Robbie, who was smiling. She liked the thought that he and Dip were finally getting along.

"I just wanted to be over here with you guys." He admitted, blushing slightly. Robbie walked over to him, earning a horrified look from Dipper.

Robbie gave Dipper a brotherly nougie, Dipper trying desperately to get free. Wendy laughed.

"Stop!" Dipper screamed. A sudden impulse screamed through his body, and he yelled out as loud as he could, "Left Hook!"

He slow-motioned an uppercut straight to Robbie's jaw, so as to not upset Wendy.

Robbie took the hint, backing off.

Dipper didn't know where that impulse came from, but something about it was eerily familiar. He shrugged it off.

He walked over to Wendy, hands in his pockets.

"So, uh, how are you doing?" He asked her, a voice crack breaking through his voice.

"Fine," she answered, tousling his hair. He brushed her off, putting a hand on his left elbow, embarrassed.

"How are you?" She asked him after a while. She found herself surprisingly actually caring about Dipper's position.

"I think I've got the hang of throwing, now. I'm working on pitching." He said. Not sure on whether or not to mention Woodrow to her, he settled on leaving him out.

"Well, that's good." She started. None of them could really keep up a conversation. Robbie butted in.

"I bet Dipstick's probably best fit on the bench." He stated. Dipper was expecting this kind of jerk move.

"Aw, come on Robbie," Wendy punched him in the shoulder for his comment.

"Hey, I don't mean it badly!" He defended.

An awkward silence enveloped the group.

Just then, Nate threw a baseball at Dipper. He saw it last second and moved out of the way, yelling "Aw piss!"

The rest of the group stared at Nate, who decided to leave.

With nothing left to do, the group slowly disbanded. Lee, Thompson and Tambry left after Nate did.

"I'll go," Dipper stated. He waved to Wendy, she waved back, but kept her eyes on him as he left.

Robbie scowled at the kid. He didn't know how he could keep his act up for long. He too left.

Wendy sat there in the lot, picking up her stuff and ready to go.

She didn't notice that a specific member of the Pines family was still there.

**We've got a filler chapter here on behalf of fishing and baseball season! Okay, here's a fun bit of trivia: Dipper's outburst of "Oh piss" is a reference to StephenPlays. The more you know!**


	7. Of Water Slides and Batting Practice

**It's been so long since I've updated this story, but don't you worry! This is still a huge priority! Even with baseball of my own to take care of. Also, I'll need some names for Pacifica's team. If you guys could post some girl names in the comments for me to use, that'd be great. Thanks! **

**On with the story!**

"Ohoho, dudes!" The tubby man yelled as he sled down a water slide on a hill.

"Woohoo!" Mabel yelled as she sped down after him.

"Oh Gosh!" Dipper screamed as he flew down the slide, faster than anyone.

"C'mon!" Wendy yelled as she sped down after him.

Waddles squealed as he rolled down the slide.

Stan stood watching the four kids in their swimsuits speed down the water slide. He wasn't going to join them, mainly because he'd throw out his hip, but also because he had money to preen.

Mabel looked up towards her great uncle. "C'mon, Grunkle Stan! Come play with us!"

"Yeah, c'mon, dude!" Soos pushed.

"Nah," he declined. "I've got things to do."

"Like watch your money?" Dipper scowled.

Stan stopped and looked outward into the mountains, thinking about what the kid had said. Was Dipper right? Did he only focus on his business? No, he sheltered and fed the kids. That's good enough, right? No, it's more than that.

More than that.

Stan turned and left, memories of his childhood resurfacing, where his father was barely there for him, the same situation the kids are kind of in right now. Both parents live away from family and have jobs that force them to leave a lot.

He could even see himself in Dipper.

Bah. What was he talking about? The kid's off better than he was when he was Dipper's age. He could even tell that Dipper was getting stronger. That or he was getting weaker.

Stan walked into his room. Sitting down at his desk, he pulled out a picture from the drawer. It was a picture taken in 1955, where there is a pitcher, pitching toward a batter. The pitchers name is Pytch. In the background, you can see a five-year-old Stanford Pines watching the game with his father.

"Time leaves us." He mumbles as he tears up.

"It leaves us."

"That was fun." Mabel stated when they were done messing around with the slide.

Wendy nodded. Dipper was still slightly intoxicated at the sight of Wendy in a bikini, but pushed it out because he didn't want to be a perverted twelve-year-old.

Soos had busied himself with packing up the monstrous toy, which had nearly been eaten by the goat.

Mabel had now found a wet spot that was underneath the slide that Waddles had taken a particular liking to.

Wendy had gone back into the house to change. Dipper had went back to his room for unsaid reasons and all that. He secretly went to his room to look up on info for Woodrow.

It was just Soos.

He had just finished packing up the dang thing when he happened to look over to his left and see a man, shaded with a sepia tint, waving at him. He approached the stranger.

"Hey." Soos greeted. The man waved back and answered.

"Hello. How are you doing?" He asked. Soos nodded jovially. "Pretty good."

"Hey," the man started. "Have you seen Dipper Pines?" He asked.

"Yeah dude, he went...inside..." Soos could now see the features of the man. He had a grizzled look to him, a scraggly beard that could barely be seen as it wasn't thick at all, and his eyes were kind and passionate.

Soos knew this man immediately. "Are you..."

The man chuckled. "Maybe." He said. Looking off at the house, he gazed into Dipper's window.

"But maybe not."

And with that, he left the man standing in the lawn as he walked up to the Shack.

Dipper sighed. It had been a while since Woodrow had taught with him. A few days, actually. He was beginning to think that all that he wanted to do was tell Dipper about the game and leave.

He stared at the ceiling boredly.

He heard a knock on his door. "Come in," he nonchalantly answered, not even leaving his gaze from the ceiling.

In walked the sepia man his thoughts had been with.

"How ya doin, tyke?" Woodrow asked.

Dipper grinned. "Fine." He said. "We going for another lesson?"

Woodrow grinned. "You bet your bonnets, we are!"

Wendy walked out of the bathroom and put her swimsuit in her duffel bag. Looking around the corner, she walked down the hallway and through the house.

She stopped by the cash register. On it was the familiar pine tree hat that Dipper always wore. She grinned, wondering why the kid would leave it there.

Wait, he isn't a kid anymore, is he?

She stopped as something caught her eye. Looking out the window, she saw Dipper with a baseball bat in his hands, swinging away. He had good cuts.

Mabel walked by and looked at the redhead. "Whatcha watching?" She asked.

Wendy looked down at the younger girl. "Dip's getting better. Have you noticed?"

Mabel nodded. A sudden thought flowed through her head. Wendy's actually... no. Nope.

She walked away, leaving Wendy to stare at the young boy swinging away in the back.

"Good! Good cut!" Woodrow cheered. He stepped back up to the makeshift mound sixty feet away.

"Now watch the ball all the way to the bat," he said. Dipper nodded, ready for the pitch.

Woodrow wound up and pitched, sending a 79-miler, a slower one for him, right to the 13-year-old.

Dipper stepped back, swung, and connected with the ball, a little on the top, just what he wanted, as he sent the ball into the dirt and careening across the ground. A perfect grounder.

Woodrow stepped back. This kid learned fast.

"Hey!" He heard the voice of a teenage girl. He quickly disappeared, careful not to be caught.

"You're doing pretty good." Wendy said. Dipper nodded, blushing unnoticeably. "Thanks"

"Why don't we play some catch?" She offered.

He smiled and nodded, taking one look at his hidden mentor before walking away.


	8. Accents in Shadows

**Okay. So first off, small chapter; big plot points. Second, I am really, truly, entirely sorry that I haven't been updating like I said I would. I've gotta go to camp for a week and won't be bringing my ipod or laptop. Sooo... Yeah. **

** I'd also like to post a chapter here that will combine all the chapters in one. I feel like they've been short...**

**Special thanks to StkAmbln. You always seem to read my stories, and trust me, I appreciate it. Thanks. Now that I've embarrassed you, on to the chapter!**

Stan sighed. He looked over at a picture on his desk of the two twins messing around with Soos. Of course, the kids were just messing around, that's what they always did.

But Stan still felt a sense of joy from that picture. As if he was successful with them this summer. He smiled as he realized it wouldn't be that hard on them when they had to come back next year.

But it being mid-July, he couldn't help but feel as if his time with the kids was growing short. Sure, there were like three weeks left. But they would go fast; especially fast for an old man.

He looked at Dipper. The kid had grown a lot over the time he'd been here. He wondered if his parents would even recognize him.

He turned and looked at Mabel. Where to start with this one? Oh, yes, she's been a ball of unstoppable, premature energy. But she's grown too. He hated to say it, but she's gotten Dipper out of more situations than he has her.

But Dipper tries so hard...

He can see it. The kid tries every day to be a man, the stronger of the two. Maybe it's to show off to Wendy. Or Robbie.

Or himself.

But one thing's for certain. There'll be a day when the kid will be strongest man in Gravity Falls. They all will depend on him.

Stan smiled. He shouldn't tell him yet. The kid's already surprised him in multiple ways.

In other words, he passed.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey Dipper!"

He groaned. "What is it, Mabel?"

Sitting on his bed, reading, he turned and looked over to his twin sister.

"I came across Wendy today." She stated, making sure to sound as mysterious as possible.

"Oh yeah?" He turned to her.

"Yeah. She was staring at you."

Dipper felt like jumping up and yelling, but he knew why. She must've seen him training with Woodrow earlier. It was nothing to be excited about. She didn't like him anyway. As an interest, at least.

You had to know how hard it was for him to come to that conclusion.

So he just smiled, turned back to his book, and simply stated: "Good."

Wendy almost flew to her bed. She was pooped. Of course, she did just cut down three trees in ten minutes, but that normally didn't bother her. So why was she so tired?

To be honest, she didn't know herself. But somehow this feeling popped up for the game.

It wouldn't be fun.

She entered the dimly lot room, looking forward anxiously. This was the right place wasn't it? She checked her phone.

822 Outland Lane-9pm

Yes. It was.

"You won't be needing that." A hardened southern accent stated. She turned to see a swivel chair in the corner of the room slowly turn to her.

In it sat a pudgy young boy with pompous blonde hair and a blue tuxedo.

"It's come to my understanding you fellas have a baseball game coming up." He drawled.

She nodded nervously.

He grinned, feigning pity. "Oh, Pacifica, don't be nervous. I know how much beating the Pines means to you."

She could not speak. She felt as if she was obliged to listen on.

"So I've come up with a deal. Y'all let me on the team..." He paused dramatically.

"...and I'll make sure that night will be one they won't forget."


	9. Exposition & Hiatus

**So I have just come back from camp, and decided to spend most of my time writing a fic for Father's Day, so this story will be put on hiatus for a while until I finish two chapters of my new fic. Hint: Pokémon. Thanks for understanding (if you do) and try to welcome this super-short chapter. Play Ball is actually coming to a close, so get ready!**

Soos looked at the photograph. Times like these make him love cleaning Stan's room.

On it was a picture of a pitcher, throwing the ball toward the plate. The hitter owned a look of fear as he looked on.

In the background sat a bespectacled, freckled, frail child, cheering on.

Soos didn't know what to make of it. He somehow knew who the tiny kid was, and also knew who the pitcher was.

Woodrow Pytch, of course. He'd know that man anywhere. He died near the end of his career.

But then, who did he see earlier? A cosplayer? No, it definitely wasn't a cosplayer. It was too good.

So did he see Pytch himself? It seemed impossible, and for all he knew, it absolutely was.

It was perplexing to be sure. He would look further into this as time goes on. He has a lamp to dust now.

He felt a hard object bang against the side of his head. He turns.

"Bwopp-wop!" Mabel yells as she giggles from the look on Dipper's face.

"Mabel, stop it. I'm focusing." He snapped, as he returns back to think.

"Hehe. What about? Is it Wendy?" She implored.

"No!" He yells. "It's not! It's different!"

Mabel laughs as she skips out of the room, singing about Dipper's unflattering crush.

He sighed. When would be able to get rid of her?

Back to thinking.

What did Woodrow mean, "Will either save or destroy Gravity Falls."? Was there some kind of event that will be dependent on the future of the town? Why did he have to be involved? After all, he was just a lowly 13 year old.

So why him?


	10. Game Day

Geez, this took way too long to update. Sorry guys! I felt really guilty, but camp, along its some ball games really took time off. Guess what? We're nearing the end of the story! Get hyped!

Game day.

That's all Dipper could focus on as he groaned and got up from his bed.

Game day.

That's all that he needed to know as he pulled out his glove and looked at it.

Game day.

He couldn't think straight as he poured himself some Froot Loops. Pouring the milk too sloppily, he almost drenched himself.

Mabel saw this. "Are you okay, Dip?"

He shrugged her off. "I'm fine. I WILL be fine, anyway."

She frowned. Dipper was usually nervous, but today seemed weird for some reason. I was like...

He had a lot of weight on his shoulders.

He sighed. Why did he have to put all of that stress on a single kid? Why did he even choose the kid anyway? It was a rushed decision! He didn't even see that much potential in the kid.

He was threatened. Yeah, that was it. Threatened.

Cipher's team would destroy the Pines'. At least that's what Cipher himself said.

The dream demon. He couldn't stand Cipher. He absolutely hated sharing dreamspace with the enigmatic, anthropomorphic triangle. Of course, he wasn't in dreamspace all the time. He could come out- but for very short intervals; fifteen or twenty minutes at a time, which Bill had already used up the time he could spend out of dreamspace.

He still had fifteen minutes left.

He looked over to the Shack, and saw the grey outlines of Dipper through the dreamspace, sighing and looking down. The kid needed confidence.

Though he could not do anything from the dreamworld without entering the real world, he could work dreams. He rushed over to the girl's cabin.

This'd be tricky, but it might work.

*snore*

No one had interrupted her sleep the entire night. But now, at six AM, a specific dream did.

A man entered her mind, sepia-toned and looking as if he came from the late fifties photographs. Her brow furrowed in her sleep as she tried to remember the man, but failed to.

He was in a ball cap with GF on the front, a long-sleeved white shirt, and jeans. He waved, tying to establish friendship with the sleeping girl.

"Hello, Wendy." The man started. "My name's Woodrow. How are ya?"

Knowing she couldn't respond, he continued. "There's this boy, who likes you a lot. To the point where he'd die for you, and then some."

Her brow unfurled, as she became confused. She silently wondered who this creepo was.

"He's, uh, very close to you." Woodrow stated, cursing himself for not being as good with words as he wanted to be. "And I'm sure you know who he is."

She started to get mad. If this was Robbie, she'd blow her top.

"He's younger than you, though."

She though for a second, before it finally clicked.

"Dipper..." She mumbled.

Woodrow nodded with a sad grin on his face. "Yes. Now, he's gonna be pretty tense during the game."

She nodded in her sleep, wondering where this guy was going.

"Now, if you could do anything for the kid to get him cheered up when he's down, do as much."

She knew where he was going with this. He wanted her to kiss him, that was it, wasn't it?

His eyes widened as he shook his head and waved his hands in defense. "No, no, no, you don't have to love him."

He sighed, knowing Dipper would hate him for that.

"Just... jump start him, eh?" He finished, walking off into endless dreamspace.

She awoke with a jolt, her hair messy and unkempt.

She turned to her desk and saw a picture of all of the kids together with Stan in front of a tree.

Her eyes focused on Dipper, who was standing right next to Wendy. He was blushing.

She facepalmed. How could she not see it before? Was she just as dense as she thought she was?

Stan looked at the picture. Underneath it was the date: June 24, 1957

He looked over at the last name of the pitcher.

Pytch.

Stan groaned internally. Was he really that hateful of his own family?

Was he really?


	11. Pregame

Guys, I feel so bad for not getting this out. Ironically enough, I had all of my focus on my own baseball games; a tournament actually. But with one huge last chapter left,I decided I'd post this chappie today. Sry, I'll B makn mor wen da time comes. (Txt)

* * *

Dipper walked out into the field where they'd be playing later. Dew was still clinging to the grass as the oranges and and aqua in the sky turned to a steely blue. Birds chirped incessantly all around.

The clear-cut grass was a crisp green color, obviously mowed by Stan the day before. Soos had taken the liberty of painting the baselines and the outline of the field, as well as uprooting all of the grass in the infield and leaving it as tilled soil. This had all taken two of three days.

Dipper himself walked over to the outside baselines, beside first base. There was nowhere to sit, but he planned to change that.

Walking back to the Mystery Kart, (aptly named by Soos) he picked up one of the benches he stole from the Shack's front porch. Walking back to first base, he placed it about ten feet from the base. There was enough room for five people to sit on it. He walked back and picked up the other bench, and placed it next to it.

That was that.

"Hey, kid," Dipper heard. He turned to see Stan walking towards him, a nervous look on his face.

"What is it, Grunkle Stan?" Dipper asked, wondering what the old man could have been nervously thinking about.

"I, uh, have a confession to make." The old man stated, nervously. Dipper looked ahead, expectant.

"I'm not on the team."

Dipper couldn't say he didn't expect this. The older man was not very athletic, aside from running from police.

"Uh, but I'll be proud to be the manager." He said, smiling as of it didn't hurt him that he wasn't young anymore.

Dipper turned. "That's alright. I guess we do need a manager."

Stan's face lit up. "Great! Now kid, here's the gist of the batting lineup..."

It wasn't long before 1:30 came up and it was an hour before the game. No one had shown up, despite all of her flyers pasted around the city.

Pacifica had never been one to not have attention brought to her. So, seeing that no one was paying any attention, she decided to change that.

"Hello, people!" She shouted into the megaphone. Her little group of friends had followed her, and were now creating a 'human throne' for her.

"I will be playing a ballgame later today against the Pines family losers!" She announced. "Come and watch me single-handedly destroy every single one of them!"

Seeing no one paying any attention still, she pulled out her secret weapon.

"We'll have free cookies."

She was mobbed immediately.


	12. Setup

**Okay, guys. Now that my baseball tournament's over, I can write! Yay! Here yar!**

It was time.

He walked up to the field, examining it.

"Oh, yes," he drawled. "This day'll surely be ruined for the Pines!"

The blonde girl behind him raised an eyebrow at the quirky boy's statement, but thought none of it. She unloaded her softball supplies from the back of her daddy's pickup and brought it to the bench.

Pacifica put on a persona of stiffness. "This grass is terrible. This field must have been made by a three year old gorilla."

Back in the shack, Soos was sweeping. He stops, and stares off into the wall, pointing towards the field. "My craftsmanship has been tarnished by an incompetent teenage brat."

He turned his hat around. "I will not stand for this." His mop his sword, he marched off towards the field.

She was on a mission. If you could say it like that, but yeah. On a mission.

A duffel bag under her arm, full of bats, gloves, and a catcher's helmet, she walked on the makeshift path she'd made to the Shack a few months ago.

To be honest, her mind had been in many different places that morning. Still, Wendy's mind was relatively focused on the game.

She remembered the dream she'd had, and thought about it herself. It did seem a little weird, and even a little fishy. Weird things happened in this town, and it was entirely possible this is one of them.

She still felt like there was a connection... somewhere, she knew that man.

It would probably be best if she just didn't tell Dip about it. Yeah, we'll go with that.

As she entered the makeshift ballpark, she glanced over towards the opposing team. Made up of official-looking players in uniform, putting on batting helmets and swinging away, as they were the visitors. All of them except for one were girls. Big, beefy cows of girls. Or were they women? Wendy couldn't tell.

She walked up to the bench, where Stan sat at a bench with a notebook in his hand, a drawing of the ball field on it. So he was the manager.

She looked and saw all of the other kids, setting up their bags and gear. Mabel sat with her friends, giggling at how they were able to ble-zazzle their gloves. The boys were all figuring out how many baseballs Lee could fit in his mouth.

Her eyes landed on Dipper, at the end of the bench, and completely alone. He had his face buried in a ballglove.

She sat down next to him and patted his back, trying as hard as she could to leave what the man said out of her mind.

"How you doin, Dip?" She asked. His head rose, as he grimaced slightly, probably because he didn't know what to say or didn't want to say what was on his mind.

She smiled invitingly. "It won't be too bad." He barely smirked, obviously not really believing her.

Just then, Buddy Gleeful walked forward onto home plate with a microphone in his hands. He tested it out, before shouting two words into the sky:

"Play Ball!"


End file.
